April 28, 2014

Econ 2: Spring 2014: UC Berkeley: Sample Final Exam I: E. "Envy"

Back in January 2012 Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said:

You know, I think it's about envy. I think it's about class warfare. When you have a President encouraging the idea of dividing America based on the 99 per cent versus one percent—and those people who have been most successful will be in the one per cent—you have opened up a whole new wave of approach in this country which is entirely inconsistent with the concept of one nation under God. The American people, I believe in the final analysis, will reject it…

This is an argument that when we do benefit-cost calculations with a utility function like the one in D:

We should count the first two terms and add them up as parts of our social welfare function and throw away the third term.

Write a short essay of three paragraphs: the first paragraph should set out what are, in your estimation, the strongest reasons for rejecting Mitt Romney’s argument; the second paragraph should set out what are, in your estimation, the strongest reasons for Mitt Romney’s argument; and the third paragraph should choose a side and explain why you chose the side you did.

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Econ 2: Spring 2014: UC Berkeley: Sample Final Exam I: E. "Envy"

Back in January 2012 Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said:

You know, I think it's about envy. I think it's about class warfare. When you have a President encouraging the idea of dividing America based on the 99 per cent versus one percent—and those people who have been most successful will be in the one per cent—you have opened up a whole new wave of approach in this country which is entirely inconsistent with the concept of one nation under God. The American people, I believe in the final analysis, will reject it…

This is an argument that when we do benefit-cost calculations with a utility function like the one in D:

We should count the first two terms and add them up as parts of our social welfare function and throw away the third term.

Write a short essay of three paragraphs: the first paragraph should set out what are, in your estimation, the strongest reasons for rejecting Mitt Romney’s argument; the second paragraph should set out what are, in your estimation, the strongest reasons for Mitt Romney’s argument; and the third paragraph should choose a side and explain why you chose the side you did.